1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sports timing devices and more particularly pertains to a running shoe including an integral timer and step counter. The sport of running and also walking is becoming increasingly popular for reasons of health and fitness. Individuals involved in these sports frequently wish to maintain a record of their training sessions in order to be able to accurately monitor their progress. Conventionally, these individuals are required to wear or carry a stop watch in order to achieve this result. However, the wearing or carrying of a timing device can interfere with the runner's natural movement and can also distract the runner from the training session. In order to overcome these problems, the present invention provides a running shoe including an integral stop watch and step counter which are embedded in a recessed arch portion of the shoe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of sports timing devices are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a timing device with integral timer is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,529, which issued to S. Morokawa on June 29, 1982. This patent discloses a pace timing device for timing steps or other actions during physical exercise and for providing audible tone bursts as timing information. U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,473, which issued to N. Zahn on July 2, 1985 discloses a sports timer having an electronic time display mounted on a pair of goggles. The device provides a heads up electronic time display which enables athletes to monitor their performance during training exercises. U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,141, which issued to M. Arai on Mar. 24, 1987, discloses a timing apparatus integrally formed with a glove which enables motorcycle riders, marathon athletes, skiers and other individuals to see or check time by one handed actuation of fingertip mounted control buttons. U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,743, which issued to M. Hirano on June 23, 1987, discloses an athletic training unit including a radio receiver and speakers for transmitting music and instructor's messages to an exerciser in a wireless manner. A desired rhythm signal is selectively supplied to the speakers from a rhythm generator so as to provide the musical rhythm to the exercisers. The device further has a sensor for detecting the pulse of the exerciser and an alarm which indicates when the pulse exceeds a safe upper limit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,001, which issued to R. Ma on Apr. 26, 1988, discloses a pedometer stop watch which includes a mechanical swing device and a group of electronic circuits disposed in a small sized housing. The swing device features a highly balanceable and sophisticated pendulum designed to absorb the natural swing energy of a human body during running. While the pendulum is swinging, a micro-switch will turn on or off to transmit every signal to an IC where the precise number of running steps is calculated.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices disclose the provision of a stop watch and a pedometer in a recessed arch portion of a running shoe. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of timing devices, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such timing devices, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.